Israel is developing their own version of the
battlefield shared picture system, similar to the American ones coming into use.
The basic idea is communications and map software that allows a ground
commander to click onto a map location (using his laptop, PDA or whatever) and
have that picture instantly available to pilots overhead. GPS could also be
used to enable a pilot to quickly find exactly where troops below are. The U.S.
has been working on such systems for over a decade. Because of the war in Iraq
and Afghanistan, there has been money, and willingness, to press forward with
this. The main difficulty has been getting all the services to develop and buy
communications gear that can speak the same language and automatically pass
data back and forth. Easy in theory, but, until recently, difficult in
practice.

This kind of real-time, "common picture", capability makes
air power much more effective, and reduces instances of friendly fire. U.S. Special
Forces troops and infantry unit commanders recently got a handheld device that
will show them real-time video taken by UAVs or aircraft overhead. The handheld
(about the size of a PDA, or a 1990s era cell phone), is part of the ROVER (Remote Operations Video Enhanced
Receiver) series, will arrive later this year. This ROVER devices use a
satellite data link to get the video from overhead UAVs or aircraft. The original
ROVER system, as well as the current one,
was developed and sent to the troops in record time. So don't let anyone
tell you this sort of thing can't happen.

Six years ago, a Special Forces
soldier, just back from Afghanistan, walked into the Aeronautical Systems
Center at Wright Patterson Air Force Base, and asked the technical people why
his guys could not have a device that would allow them to watch the video being
generated by a Predator, AC-130 or other aircraft overhead. Since it was the
Special Forces troops on the ground who were running, and fighting, the ground
battle, it would help them a lot if they could see the real time video from
above. At that time, the video was being viewed by people in the aircraft, or
the UAV operators (who often were back in the United States, running things via
a satellite link.) The ground troops had to ask the air force what could be
seen on the video, and there was usually a delay in getting that information.
It would be much better for all concerned if the ground troops could see that
video in real time.

The air force went to work, and in two
weeks had a ROVER (Remote Operations Video Enhanced Receiver) prototype that
Special Forces personnel could take back to Afghanistan. ROVER I was not
terribly portable, but the Special Forces could haul it around in a hummer, and
see what any Predators overhead were seeing. This proved very useful. A few
months later, ROVER II appeared, which allowed troops to view UAV vids on a
laptop computer. By late 2004, Rover III, a 12 pound unit built to be carried
in a backpack, was put into service.

Although ROVER IIIs cost $60,000 each,
they address dozens of suggestions and complaints from the troops who used
earlier ROVERs. Some 700 of these entered service within a year. They were used
in Afghanistan and Iraq, and can grab video feeds from army, marine and air
force UAVs and bomber targeting pods (which have great resolution, even when
the aircraft are 20,000 feet up.)

The Rover IV appeared in 2005. It l
allowed users to point and click on targets to be hit. With Rover III, the guys
on the ground could see what they want bombed, or hit with a missile, but had
to talk the bombers to it. This happens often, especially when the target is
behind a hill or buildings, preventing the ground troops from using their laser
range finders to get a GPS location. With ROVER IV, the bomber pilot, or UAV
operator, is looking at the same video as the ground troops, and can confirm
that the indicated target is what is to be hit. This is particularly important
in urban warfare, where the building next door might be full of innocent
civilians.

The ROVER gear is usually operated by
air force ground controllers, but the army is eager to get even smaller and
lighter units into the hands of platoon and patrol leaders, as well as Special
Forces teams. Because it's wartime, there's not much to stop this from
happening. And happening in the next year or so. Without the wartime pressure,
it would have taken a decade or more to get ROVER to where it got in only a few
years.